MIS president Curtis blasts Kentucky Speedway

Michigan International Speedway president Roger Curtis came out firing after the traffic debacle during the weekend NASCAR races at Kentucky Speedway. The track played host to its first Sprint Cup race, though thanks to traffic delays and parking issues, many fans missed most, if not all, of the race. The Kentucky track tripled its seating capacity to 107,000, but allotted just 33,000 parking spaces. Traffic en route to the track was backed up for nearly 25 kilometres. It has been estimated that some 20,000 fans never got to see the race.

“What should have been a shining moment for the sport of NASCAR and all the racetracks, especially those in the midwest, has sadly, potentially, put all of us back several steps – maybe even years,” Curtis said. “A sellout NASCAR race at Kentucky Speedway should have signaled the continuation of great things for race fans in the midwest and for our sport. Unfortunately Saturday’ night’s events became an exercise in blame and unpreparedness – and race fans, corporate partners, media and drivers were caught in the middle.”

He wasn’t the only one to blast the Kentucky track. Drivers, Jimmie Johnson, Brian Vickers and Jeff Gordon all apologized to race fans for the inconvenience they suffered through and Gordon suggested the next race tickets they wanted would be on him. Like Curtis, they are concerned that the black eye given the sport by Saturday’s mess will undercut efforts tracks like MIS have made to work with local government agencies to find ways to alleviate such traffic jams on their race weekends. “As a track promoter, I am saddened and embarrassed about what happened this weekend,” Curtis said. “To think all the hard work that we’ve done here at Michigan International Speedway and other tracks have done could be so quickly erased by Saturday’s events. That speedway, having been open for racing since 2000, should have known the challenges it would face when it tripled in size.

“Just to be clear: This isn’t about kicking a race track when it’s down. We all make mistakes and MIS has certainly had past issues with traffic. And it isn’t about trying to sway a Kentucky Speedway ticketholder to come to Michigan – though we will be happy to treat them the way they should be treated should they want to give us a chance.

“It’s about apologizing and doing what’s right when you are clearly in the wrong. It is about having your priorities right in the first place – on the fan experience. That’s why I’m upset.

“It is bad enough the racetrack went into the weekend knowing traffic was going to be worse than they had previously had with other series. But to think (Kentucky Speedway owner) Bruton Smith made light of it with the media, and then pointed the finger at the state of Kentucky when posed with traffic questions is unfathomable.

Smith joked that they expected to get all the fans home from the race “by Tuesday,” but NASCAR CEO Brian France was in no laughing mood when he declared the Kentucky debacle, “cannot happen again.”

According to Curtis, planning and communication are the key to avoiding such traffic snarls. “We work tirelessly with our legislators and local officials to ensure traffic moves efficiently and safely,” he said. “We collaborate with local communities, our state, public safety officials and first-responders to ensure an event at Michigan International Speedway is a true public-private partnership; and not a business threatening to hold its region hostage to meet our demands.

“It appears the mentality at some other racetracks today is to see how much money they can make off a fan. Their line of thinking is to ban coolers, have fire sales on last-minute tickets, build, build, build without thinking, thinking, thinking, and blame others for their mistakes.

“Don’t get me wrong: We are not perfect. But we listen to our fans, we recognize our shortcomings and we try to overcome them so race fans don’t feel the burden. Most importantly, we learn from them so those mistakes don’t happen again. Michigan International Speedway is sincere when we say we want to do things for our fans to grow our business.

“We try really hard to educate our fans on traffic and our facility, have a system of feedback and information sharing with all our guests, and we listen to our guests about changes we need to make to grow our business. Fans are our bottom line.

“On behalf of the MIS staff, I apologize to all the race fans whose expectations were not met this weekend, but also to those who read all the stories and were taken back by the treatment other people received.

“That is not how we do business at our racetrack – and it’s certainly not indicative of how every track operates. I hope fans recognize this and realize the vast majority in this great sport (not just tracks, but NASCAR officials, drivers and owners, as well) are working hard for the fans and do have their priorities right. We do not take our guests for granted and we pledge to do everything we can every day to make your experience at MIS the best it can be.”

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